


Copper

by nearimia



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Bending (Avatar), Bisexual Allura (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Garrison trio, Gen, Multi, Quests, Road Trip, its late ill add tags later, plance, they're all dumbasses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2019-11-08 10:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17979227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nearimia/pseuds/nearimia
Summary: Ten years ago, the Royal Family of the Northern Water Tribe were killed by the Fire Nation.And the Avatar still hasn't been reborn.Two weeks ago, Takashi Shirogane, Sam, & Matt Holt were supposed to return from their scientific expedition.And they are still missing.Today, Katie 'Pidge' Holt is going to find her family.And she is running from the law.Today, Keith Akira Kogane is setting out to find his brother.And he will find so much more.Rated T for swearing and mild violence





	1. Chapter 1

It was a warm summer’s day when Katherine Holt left her home. 

She simply packed up her things and walked out, leaving nothing behind but a note for her mother. Katie believed her mother would understand, after all, she was doing the right thing.

To say that our heroine was the perfect child would be an extreme inaccuracy. In fact, she was quite the troublemaker, but she’d never gone as far as to get law enforcement involved. Except for the one time she did, which was one of the many reasons she set off on her own. She didn’t want the law to punish her mother for her missteps. If only she had run a little faster, then the guards of the palace wouldn’t have seen her. Alas, what’s done is done. All she can do now is run away and hope that the Dai Li leave her mother alone. Katie knew that was only an excuse though, her mother could take on the Dai Li any day.

To some, escaping the walls of Ba Sing Se without being noticed seemed like an impossible feat. But to Katie ‘Pidge’ Holt, master earthbender, and, more recently, evader of law enforcement, it was mere child’s play. 

She didn’t escape completely unnoticed though. Her best, and only, friend, Hunk- who lived in a small village outside the walls -noticed her distinct footsteps coming from the weak spot she’d found in the outer wall. Where she could come and go, undetected. The only difference was that this time, she didn’t use the secret code they’d created when they wanted to meet up.

Hunk Garrett was also an earthbender, and albeit not as good as Pidge, he managed to get along just fine. He only really used his bending to tend to his garden and meet up with his friends, it didn’t really have many other uses to him. 

Intrigued, Hunk followed the footfalls he sensed through the ground. He knew there was no way Pidge hadn’t noticed him, but he hung back a little. 

Eventually she slowed down, near a creek about two miles away from the outer wall. Coincidentally, this particular creek ran through the McClains’ farm. Even more shocking was the appearance of another set of feet, these ones belonging to Lance McClain, the youngest son of the McClain household.

It was at this point that Hunk decided to intercept. He stepped out from behind a boulder and headed towards a small figure dressed in white and green, with almost-blonde-but-not-quite-brown hair tied in a ponytail. These features belonged to Pidge Gunderson; more formally known as Katie Holt, though Hunk doesn’t know that. 

Standing not too far from her was Lance McClain, a tall, thin, and lanky boy with tan skin, and blue eyes that are frequently covered by his unruly dark brown hair. He seemed to be having a one sided conversation with Pidge, who looked like she wanted to be anywhere else. Her amber eyes were glowering at her half-filled canteen, and it took all her will not to make this obnoxious boy fall right through the ground.

“Where are you going?” Hunk’s voice startled her out of her stupor.

“Just, uh, going for a walk,” she said, turning to face him, wearing a guilty smile. Neither of them believed the lie, and Hunk made a point of staring directly at her bag, which held way too many things for a simple ‘walk’.

“Wait wait wait,” said Lance, reminding them that there was, in fact, someone else in their vicinity, “Hunk you  _ know _ this girl.” He pointed at Pidge as if she wasn’t the only girl there.

“Yes.” He turned his attention back to Pidge, “Now, where are you actually going?”

“See, the thing is--” she dug her shoes into the ground, “--I don’t really have much of a plan.” She smiled innocently at him, but he’d seen her at her most dangerous. He could not be fooled. “I was thinking Kiyoshi Island. I need to be trained in hand-to-hand combat if I want to infiltrate the Fire Nation. My mom used to be a Kiyoshi warrior and she said they’re awesome in combat, and in general.”

“You’re going to infiltrate the  _ Fire Nation _ ?” Lance’s eyes looked like they were about to fall out of his head.

“Does your mother  _ know _ about this?” Hunk pressed, tapping his foot impatiently. Pidge shot him a wavering smile. “Really, Pidge.” He shook his head. “I’m coming with you.” 

“Oh, I wanna come too!” Lance was hopping around like a child. “Nothing ever happens around here.”

“Can I stop either of you from following me?” Pidge’s shoulders were already slumped in defeat, but she needed to do everything she could to try and keep them out of the mess she’d made.

“Nope.” They chorused.

This is how, a month and a bit later, the trio ended up on Kiyoshi Island, though not in very good shape.

 

The first few days of travel were the most insufferable of them all. Lance wouldn’t shut up, and Hunk kept giving Pidge these  _ looks _ that made her feel even worse about leaving. There were mountains as far as the eye could see.

Some of Lance’s incessant babbling was about how darn  _ excited  _ he was to see the makeshift ferry station when they got to the sea between Ba Sing Se and the mainland. It took Pidge a total of three days and twenty seven attempts to get it through his thick skull that they weren’t going to be using a ferry. It took another day to get him to stop complaining about the fact that Pidge had “idiotically forgotten her freaking passport when she was literally going to be travelling”. 

Once he’d settled down, Hunk seemed to have come to his senses, and he asked how they would make it to the mainland.

“The Serpent’s Pass, duh.” Was all Pidge said in regards to that. Afterwards, none of them said anything for a few hours. 

One time, when their legs were especially tired, Pidge had them all sit on a huge rock and used her bending to move them for a few hours. That night, Lance asked why they couldn’t do that the whole time and Pidge replied, “It feels like carrying both of you on my shoulders and you’re heavy as fuck.” Lance was offended (not really).

When they reached the Serpent’s Pass, Pidge pulled them both aside and relayed the plan she’d been working on for a while.

“Lance will part the water as much as he can, while Hunk and I raise the ground from bottom of the water, alright.” She explained it at least five more times afterwards, just in case. 

They crossed with only minor injuries and the loss of a few of Lance’s arrows. Pidge promised she’d get him more when they got to a city.

On day 13, Hunk ran out of stories to tell.

On day 16, Lance asked about the thick metal cuffs that spanned most of Pidge’s forearms. She and Hunk exchanged a knowing look and Hunk told him to pay close attention. 

A split second and a hand movement later, Pidge was holding a metal sword. The sword then turned into boomerang, then a shield, then an oddly good sculpture of Lance, before returning to it’s cuff form. 

“Woah!” Lance’s jaw hung slack, “I thought metalbenders were just a myth!”

“You were myth-taken,” She quipped, earning a groan from Hunk and a bewildered look from Lance.

Now, Pidge, being the incredibly stubborn girl she is, would never,  _ ever _ , say this out loud, but the two boys’ company was growing on her. Hunk and Lance obviously knew each other better than they knew her, so half of their bantering energy was put towards trying to get her to join in on their banter. If she were in any other situation, she would’ve been the one initiating the banter in the first place, but her current mission was very important, and distractions and attachment could be her fatal mistake.

It was on day 24 that she finally told them why she was ‘journeying’. 

They’d found a small village a few days ago and decided to stay for a bit to replenish their supplies and regain their energy. Somehow, they had enough money for the makeshift hotel in the city, along with food, water, and arrows for Lance. Hunk even got his crossbow fixed.

Pidge wouldn’t tell them how she came across enough funds for any of this, and she made it explicitly clear that they weren’t going to find out any time soon. Instead, she told them the reason she was going to infiltrate the Fire Nation.

“My brother and father were taken captive by the Fire Nation while they were on a scientific expedition for the Earth King.” The news took both boys by surprise. Neither of them knew much about Pidge’s family, but from what Hunk had gathered over a couple years of friendship was that she loved them more than anything in this reality or the next. “I left Ba Sing Se in a hurry because some of the guards saw me when I snuck into the castle again.” This shocked them even more.

“What do you mean, again?” Hunk asked.

“The first few times I went, I was just testing the waters. Seeing if I could do it.” She shrugged as if it were a normal thing for a 15 year old to attempt. “Once my family ‘disappeared’ I broke into a few of their minor information ports to find out what happened to them. I found out they were taken and that the Earth King had lied, but when I went back again, I tried to go too far into the castle and one of the guards saw me.” She released a shaky breath, “I don’t know if they recognized me, but I left to make sure my mom wasn’t caught in the crossfire, and with the information I gathered, I have a pretty good idea on how to find my family.” 

They reassured her that they’d help in any way possible, though Hunk was a little hesitant on the whole ‘infiltrate the enemy’ thing. They also reminded her that there’s no pressure for her to disclose any personal information if she doesn’t want to. Unless it directly affects them, in which case she still isn’t obligated, but it would be nice to know. She smiled, and it was brighter than the goddamned sun.

The next day, they set off again, in considerably better shape. Pidge had a whole new outfit she claimed was more comfortable, Lance had a couple new special arrows, and Hunk had recipes for a few dishes he could whip up without much to work with.

They were warm, happy, and sated, but of course, being protagonists, that could never last long. 

The three friends were about to have their first brush with the Fire Nation, and it wouldn’t be anything like what they expected. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jesus this has been in my drafts for god knows how long,,,  
> sorry for never updating i uhh lowkey forgot about this sorry  
> but school's almost out and considering I'll have even more nothing to do i'll probably start writing more  
> probably  
> enjoy!!

Keith was getting restless.

Ever since Shiro went missing on his expedition, or whatever, he’d been hiding out in a shack that used to be owned by his dad. All he had left of Shiro was a cryptic note written on the back of a photo, and a warning to stay away from the place him and his crew were ‘visiting’.

The picture itself wasn’t all that remarkable, just a big blue glacier in the middle of the Arctic, probably not too far from the Northern Water Tribe. Shiro had visited that place a few years before he met Keith, and in the early days, he’d tell stories about the Tribe’s royal family. There was the kind waterbender King and his beautiful wife, the Avatar Princess and her peculiar pet mice. There was also the King’s goofy advisor, who’d shown Shiro around the Castle.

Then Shiro would go on about how there were actually two castles and that one of them was hidden away and filled with ancient magical secrets about Avatars and how bending powers work, along with mystical items that could see what’s in your heart and tell you your greatest desires. This was always the point where Keith would stop believing the story. Kings, queens, and princesses, he could deal with, but secret castles and magic, of all thing, he just didn’t get it. Besides, the Avatar had gone missing nearly ten years ago, and a new one hasn’t been born yet, so who even knew how much of Shiro’s stories were true.

To some people, bending would be considered magic, but to Keith, it was just some kind of genetic. You either have it or you don’t, and god does he wish he didn’t. That way, he wouldn’t have to deal with the fact that at least one of his parents was Fire Nation.

Sure, not all Fire Nation people are bad, but the odds were pretty high.

He fiddled with his pearl-handled dagger as he re-read the inscription on the back of the photo for the millionth time.

‘Some secrets are best kept frozen’

The inscription itself made no real sense, and Shiro knew that Keith wasn’t good with secret codes and cryptic messages. He’d found every key to every known code he could find, but none of them came up with a viable answer. At this point, Keith was getting desperate enough to sort through everything Shiro had ever told him. All the stories, and the legends, and the myths, everything.

Keith thought back to the bullshit stories of the secret castle. This couldn’t possibly be referring to that, could it? Could it? I mean, the castle was technically a secret, and it was up in the Arctic. Maybe even near the location of the picture.

It had been nearly two weeks since Shiro was supposed to come back, and so far, this was the best lead he had. Worst comes to worst he could camp out in the Northern Water Tribe.

And with that, Keith packed a few changes of clothing (he was careful not to pick any reds, blues, oranges, or greens), his dagger- given to him by his mother, supposedly, and all the money he could find before hopping on his multi-surface hoverbike and driving off into the near-endless expanse of desert.

The trip wasn’t nearly as gruelling as he expected.

Ten years ago, the Northern Water Tribe was attacked by the Fire Nation, and the aftermath of the attack left the tribe without a ruler.

The King, Queen, and the Princess had all been presumed dead, though they never found the Avatar Princess’s body. Since a new Avatar hasn’t been revealed, some still think she’s alive, and many people from both Water Tribes have gone looking for her. In the end, all their searches were in vain.

Maybe the new Avatar just didn’t want to save people. Maybe they rejected their ‘sacred duties’ as peacekeeper between the four nations.

After her disappearance, the Fire Nation became more and more brutal in their attempts to control everything.

If the Princess really was dead, then the new Avatar would have been born into the Earth Kingdom, which is where the Fire Nation had started focusing their attacks. It was this disinterest for the slowly healing Water Tribes that allowed Keith to safely traverse there without getting into too much trouble. Of course, it took time and money, but eventually, he made it to the Northern Water Tribe.

The Tribe felt… different, than what Shiro described. It seemed less lively and more on-guard. The ice walls surrounding the entire tribe were at least ten times taller than Keith was, and he was sure that he’d get immediately kicked out if he tried to enter the city.

 _I’m not here for them anyway,_ he thought. _Now, where the hell is this ‘secret castle’._

He took inventory of his surroundings. To the left, there was a large lake and the terrain was pretty flat; whereas to the right, there was solid ice and in the distance, a few cliff-like shadows.

“That way it is,” he muttered under his breath, turning towards the silhouette of the distant glaciers.

The one good thing about being a firebender was temperature regulation. He was never too cold because of his bending, and he was so used to excessive heat that he barely even noticed it. That didn’t stop his nose from freezing up though, no matter how many times he lit a small flame in front of his face. He didn’t mind the cold, but what really bugged him was how every inhale through his nose stung. He couldn’t bring himself to fix the problem though. He was too focused on finding that damn cliff that was so important it needed to be photographed.

His climb through the Arctic started to get more and more gruelling, especially when Keith realised he was climbing uphill. His first instinct was to turn around, but after reconsidering, he decided he needed a good vantage point, and this cliff was as good as any other.

It took him two days of travel to make it to the top, and when he did, well he couldn’t say he was disappointed.

He was never really one to enjoy landscapes, especially those as barren as the Arctic, but he felt a sense of accomplishment looking down at the icy ground, the frigid air seemingly frozen in place, as if time had decided to slow so he could enjoy this moment. He stepped all the way to the edge of the glacier, leaning to see what was under it. The ice on this particular cliff seemed to be more like the kind of ice you eat and less like the slightly artificial blue of the rest of the surrounding glaciers. It also seemed to be fogged up, like it was concealing something from view.

Before he could get a good look, the ice under him started to crack, and before he could even blink, Keith was falling through the air.

The only thing that saved him from adding red to the colour of the landscape was his instincts. A few meters before hitting the ground, Keith extended his arms in front of him and shot a stream of fire at the ice below, the hot air slowing his descent. His face was screwed up in concentration and his arms were shaking, fear and adrenaline the only things keeping him from falling.

Once he was close enough to the ground, he let himself drop, head resting in a puddle of melted ice. He couldn’t care less that his clothes were soaked and he was slowly starting to freeze. He shut his eyes for a minute and took in some deep breaths, stabilizing his racing heart.

When he reopened his eyes, he was met with a shockingly familiar site. He stood up and shook his head, trying to comprehend what he was seeing, but a quick comparison with the photo he carried confirmed it.

This was the glacier.

And there was a castle frozen inside it.

When Keith stopped shaking enough to stand up, his first coherent thought was about what he was supposed to do next. Of course, he could always go back to the Water Tribe and ask for their help, but he had a feeling they’d be less than friendly to him, especially since he bore news of a castle most of them probably didn’t know existed.

His next thought was even crazier. _Un-freezing all this ice by myself? Have I gone completely insane?_

After a solid five minutes of brainstorming, he decided that that was the best- and only -viable option.

He located what he assumed was the door of the palace and placed both his hands on the ice blocking it, after removing what was left of his gloves. He focused all his energy on the heat that sprung from his hands. He just hoped his firepower was enough.

Getting through the ice was difficult, but not as hard as he thought. The ice was thinner than it looked and it melted easily, as if it wanted Keith to get to the castle as soon as possible. He spent nearly the entire day standing there, taking a step or two forward when enough of the ice had melted. It was near sundown when he finally reached the castle.

The door of the castle was frozen shut, but with a few bursts of fire and some help from one of his knives, Keith was able to pry it open. He was still soaked from the waist down (though it was more ice than water), his fire having dried his shirt. He picked up all his supplies from in front of the glacier and re-shoved everything into his bag. And with that, he walked into the castle.

The unlit hallways of the secret castle were long and empty. Every sound he made reverberated throughout the corridor he was traversing. He had a feeling the entrance he’d used wasn’t the main one, and that idea was solidified once he exited the hall and entered a room with a giant staircase right in the middle. There was a hallway facing the stairs that seemed to lead to another entrance, one that was significantly grander than the way Keith entered.

He walked to the staircase, and as he was about to take his first step, the room lit up.

 _Hold for identification scan_ , said a robotic voice belonging to the castle, _Scan complete, please proceed._

The stairs lit up, one by one, and Keith took that as a sign to follow. At the top of the staircase, he followed the lit up hallway, which led him deep into the castle.

Four hallways and two staircases later, the lights led him into a room with a sign reading ‘Medical Bay’.

The room itself looked nothing like a traditional med bay. There were a couple of tables pushed against the wall. The tables were stocked with weird scanners and tools that Keith never wanted near him. In the centre of the room there were a circle of cryo-replenishing pods, which only the rich families with military ties owned. It made sense that a castle belonging to the old royal family of the Northern Water Tribe would have them installed.

Though what surprised him the most is that the small cyan light that indicates whether a pod is in use was lit, on, not one, but two of the pods. The little specks of light were blinking, which meant that the healing process was over, but for some reason, neither of the pods had been emptied. He stepped closer to them, the shadows in the occupied ones giving him chills. The glass had fogged over, but when he went to touch it, he was met with the chill of ice.

 _Ironic_ , he thought, _the cryo-pods are frozen_. He stared at the used pods pensively. _Should I… unfreeze the people?_

The question weighed his mind.

 _What if they’re dangerous?_ The rational part of him said.

 _But what if they know something about Shiro?_ Argued the part of Keith that longed for the only family he’d ever known. His rational side couldn’t help but agree.

He gently placed his hands on the base of the first pod, having knelt to the ground so he wouldn’t see the faces of the frozen people if they didn’t survive the ten-year cryo-freeze.

The heat radiating from his hands was more controlled than when he thawed the glacier. Even if the people were dangerous, he didn’t want to hurt them. Shiro had come here, and

Keith trusted his judgement enough to believe that nothing bad would come of this.

 _You need to be more independent_ , chimed a small annoying voice in his head, _When’s the last time you did something for yourself and not Shiro?_

He shut his brain off and instead opted to stare at the melted ice dripping onto the floor.

He was already halfway done with the pod, and a short half-hour later, it was completely unfrozen.

Keith stood back to admire his work, then he took a deep breath, and hit the button that released the pod’s occupant.

And as the blue tinted glass began to recede, he saw a flash of silver hair paired with dark skin, the vision strangely familiar. He wondered where he’d seen these features before, perhaps in one of the many photos Shiro had of his travels. He mentally sorted through them, looking for silver locks. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn’t notice the absence of glass, and the body falling towards him. He caught them- er, her -and instantly felt her body shaking. He tried to warm her without accidentally setting something on fire.

It only took a minute for the girl to regain consciousness, and when her eyes flew open, Keith remembered where he’d seen her.

The bright blue eyes staring up at him belonged to the one and only Avatar Princess.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im baaack~<3  
> wow lets ignore that 2012 greeting  
> anyways i havent proofread this and my english is actual trash esp cuz its summer and there isnt any school to force me to remember how to words  
> so yeah heres some ~plot~  
> hope u enjoy!!

Pidge, Hunk, and Lance were walking towards a port where ships came and went from all around the Earth Kingdom. These boats were mainly for cargo, but Pidge assured the boys that she could secure them a ride. They didn’t argue.

They were a ways away from the village, where Pidge had gone from a green and white outfit to a grey and black one, urging them to do the same. Wearing colours that tied them to one of the four elements wouldn’t do much good for them. So they were all decked out in neutral tones, Hunk choosing a fully beige outfit while lance went for a grey so bright that it almost looked silver. 

Pidge was fiddling with the jewelry that used to be her cuffs- before Lance told her she looked supremely suspicious with them on -as she told them stories of life in the inner ring of Ba Sing Se.

“Most of the kids that went to my school were the children of diplomats or important people in the government or something.” She twirled her necklace around her fingers, making its many little beads clank around her neck, “And they were all stuck up brats who didn’t know up from down, and seemed to think that intelligence was some sort of flaw.” Her jaw was tense as she said this, eyebrows furrowing, “I didn’t really have many friends in the inner walls so I’d sneak out to the middle section, and then to the outer wall, until eventually I just left the whole city. That’s when I met Hunk.” She smiled, the rest of her face so tense that it seemed more bitter than happy. “Before him, my best friend was my brother. We would hang out all the time and build robots, and cool junk like that.” A flash of sadness crossed her face before she went neutral again.

“Is that why you had all that copper in your bag?” said Hunk.

“YOU WENT THROUGH MY BAG!?” 

“I didn’t take anything I swear.” Hunk raised his hands in surrender, “I also didn’t read your diary… much.” 

“Hunk!”

“I was looking for a snack,” he mumbled. 

“Uh, guys,” Lance stage-whispered, “I think someone’s following us.” He pointed behind them, towards the forest that lined one side of the path. “In the trees.” They all went still and silent.

Pidge discreetly made a dagger using her bracelets. Hunk casually reached into his satchel for his crossbow, and Lance made a show of pulling an arrow from his quiver and nocking it. They stood back to back in a triangle, Hunk and Lance pointing their ranged weapons at the trees. 

Pidge had special shoes with a ‘fabric’ made from metal fibers “So I can see while I walk” she’d said when her mother had first asked. Right now, she was slowly adjusting the shoe so that the sole was split down the middle, and her feet could touch the ground. She couldn’t feel any feet but their own on the ground, so the culprits must still be up above. 

All of a sudden, Lance fired an arrow into the air, just as a whoosh sound came from the trees. Pidge finally felt the presence of other people. The two pairs of heavy human footsteps could be heard even without her bending, but what was most unsettling was the pair of metallic feet clanking along with them. The only people who had robot sentries like that were the Fire Nation. Pidge had a really horrible feeling about this.

Before their culprits could even come into view, a small metal ball rolled towards Lance, and before any of them could think, a pink gas started leaking out of it. They were all so encapsulated with the possibly dangerous gas that they didn’t notice the giant metal net being thrown at them until it was too late to do anything. They all shrieked as they fell and Lance shot a wayward arrow that nearly pegged Pidge in the face. 

“Get us out!” he hollered in her direction. She was so caught up in trying not to breath in the gas, she’d failed to notice that the net was made of metal. If she wasn’t so busy at the moment, she may have even been proud of Lance for noticing something that even she- the earthbender -hadn’t.

Yet, as the footsteps, both human and not, got closer, she decided that they would have a better chance of survival if she didn’t exhibit her bending just yet. They might kill her on the spot if they find out that she can bend metal. 

She stopped struggling, and reached for Hunk and Lance’s hands, her dagger lying abandoned next to her. She squeezed their hands tightly, hoping they’d understand what she was trying to convey without her having to speak and risk breathing in the fumes. 

They squeezed back just as Pidge was starting to feel light-headed. 

There were two options, either pass out from lack of oxygen and breathe in the gas while unconscious, or breathe in the gas before passing out. 

She decided, in her last moments of consciousness, that she’d rather die by her own lack of oxygen than die at the hands of whatever was in that gas. So she squeezed Lance and Hunk’s hands one last time, noticing that they were both slightly limp, and stared defiantly at her captor before her eyes fluttered shut.

 

The room in which Pidge awoke was small, cramped, and made of wood. The only light in the whole room came from the opening where the ceiling should be, far above her. There was a small door on one side of the room, it was most likely locked from the outside.

Pidge sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Faintly, she could hear the sound of horses through the walls and the hushed conversation of whoever kidnapped them. She saw Lance and Hunk sitting in a corner of the room, having a conversation that seemed to consist mainly of cryptic looks and hand gestures. She slowly shuffled over to them, grateful that her wrists weren’t cuffed.

“What happened?” she asked, rubbing her arms for warmth.

“We just got kidnapped by some randos in the middle of nowhere, so not much” Hunk said, his voice octaves higher than normal, “At least we aren’t cuffed.”

“If I could touch the ground, I might be able to figure out where we are, and where they’re taking us.”

“If you could touch the ground, we could escape.”

“Yeah, that too.”

“Right right right, but, what about our stuff?” Lance said.

“I’ll just buy you guys some new things--” she waved him off “--It’s no big deal.”

“How though?” Hunk said, eyes frantic, “Last I checked, you don’t have any of your stuff, and now all three of us don’t have our passports!” 

Pidge smiled devilishly.

Slowly, she started to lift up her shirt, only stopping when she heard screams.

“What are you doing!?!?” yelled Lance. His face was flushed and he’d thrown his arms across his eyes. Hunk was covering his eyes with his hands and shaking his head. 

“Jeez, relax guys. I was just gonna tell you that I may or may not have taken your passports from your bags and hidden them in a secret compartment I sewed into my shirt.” Her tone made it sound like she was chastising little kids for not sharing their toys. “You can look now, by the way.” She held up their passports.

“I thought you forgot your passport though?”

“I may have lied.”

“But-but wHY???”

“Escape first, story later.”

 

Half an hour and one stop later, the trio had come up with a hopefully foolproof plan for escape.

They’d be waiting until they’d mapped out the schedule to escape. Jumping out of a moving caravan as means of escape may be efficient, but it sure isn’t safe.

They still had no idea why they’d been captured anyway. It’s not like any of them had any real value, right? Just two random boys who lived near Ba Sing Se and one girl who lives in the center ring for some currently undetermined reason. No biggie.

Still, the guilt of getting her two friends captured, when she could have easily escaped, was weighing down on Pidge. For all they knew, these guys were planning on handing them over to the Fire Nation, or worse. They’d probably overheard her stories about the inner ring and assumed that she was someone important, or the daughter of someone important at the very least. 

“Guys,” she said, the guilt nestling itself into her chest, “I’m sorry. It’s my fault we’re in this situation.” It came out as barely a whisper, but judging by the other’s reactions, they’d heard her.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Hunk said, pulling her into a side hug, “We both agreed to come with you, nay, we  _ wanted _ to come with you, and we knew something like this could happen.”

“Besides,” Lance said, sitting down on Pidge’s other side and throwing his arm over her shoulder, “Unless you’re the one who drugged us, captured us in a net, and dragged us to a moving prison--” he listed off each thing with the fingers on his free hand, “--then it’s not your fault we got caught.” She smiled lopsidedly. The guilt didn’t leave though.

“It’s just that.” She rubbed her face, remembering the glasses she’d left at home, the ones that belonged to Matt, “I haven’t been completely honest with you, and I think it is my fault that they targeted us. They probably heard me talk about the inner ring and figured I was some  _ ‘big important family’ _ , or something”

“Wait,” Hunk said, “ _ Are  _ you from some ‘big important family’?” He tilted his head. 

The question had no malicious intent, it was purely Hunk’s curiosity. For some reason, that comforted Katie.

“I wouldn’t say my family’s  _ big _ , by any means.” She shrugged. “I guess they are kinda important though.”

“Penny for your thoughts?” Lance smiled.

“You have no money.”

“Fair point,” he conceded, “But when I do get money, I will hear what is on your mind Pidge… uh, what’s your last name.”

“Gunderson. At least for now. Knowing my real last name means that if they interrogate you you’ll probably end up telling them.”

“Hey!” Hunk said, fake offended, “You know our last names!”

“But I’m less likely to crack.”

“Understandable.”

 

The time passed slowly. There wasn’t much to do but sit and wait, and listen for the footsteps of the horses and the clattering of the- now empty -bowls of water in their little cage. They figured that the caravan would stop at nightfall, and they’d spend their time resting until then, so they could make up for potential lost time when night fell.

Now, they were all huddled together in a corner for warmth. The day drawing to an end. They were completely prepared to hop to their feet and bust out the door when the caravan stopped. So when, a moment later, it came to a screeching halt, all three of them were on their feet and preparing to break through what they’d figured out was the back wall, when they heard a jingling of keys and the click of a lock. The door opened, and standing there, was a boy in blue robes. 

Pidge’s eyes widened in recognition as the boy stepped into the already cramped room. His white hair was tied back in a ponytail, a single strand falling over his face. The light coming from outside made his silhouette glow. His blue eyes stared them down.

“Well,” he said, his voice sharp and warm, with an accent that suggested he’d been all around the world, “who do we have here.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is kinda filler/ an intro to allura  
> sorry for being ia on this story, was kinda in a vld depression so it was hard to write  
> anyways enjoy!

The funny thing about humans is that they generally react negatively to waking up in a stranger’s arms. 

Keith had never had a problem with that sort of reaction, hell, even  _ he _ would be mad if he woke up in some random person’s arms. But at the current moment, he couldn’t help but be aggravated.

The instant the Princess had regained consciousness, she’d pulled him into a painful headlock.

“Ow, ow, ow,” Keith whimpered, “Please stop. I’m not going to hurt you.” 

In another time and place, he would’ve been ashamed for openly pleading like this, but he didn’t see another way out. He couldn’t exactly fight the Princess. She was the Avatar for god’s sake! He also needed to know what the hell was going on. 

But mostly the fear of being killed.

“Who are you,” she commanded, and he knew instantly that it wasn’t a question.

_ Keith Akira Kogane, _ said the voice of the castle before Keith could respond. 

The voice shocked them, and for a moment, the Princess’s grip loosened. Keith immediately pulled himself out of the headlock. 

The Princess waved her arm, and Keith’s feet were frozen to the ground. 

“Could I have more information please?” she said, head tilted up as if the castle was a god she was praying to. 

A screen at the front of the room illuminated, and Keith could just barely make out a picture of him from when he was scanned at the entrance. 

The Princess strode over to the screen, scrutinizing it with her face scrunched and her arms crossed. Keith took this time to get a good look at her. She was wearing a blue and purple dress with an off the shoulder top and a flowy tulle skirt. She had a thin tulle cape that was a glittery periwinkle and was wearing silver flats. Her hair was a blinding white that looked almost silver, and Keith remembered the stories about how she was favoured by the moon goddess, earning her hair the colour. Her skin was dark and smooth, a stark contrast to her hair. 

He had to admit she was beautiful, but she was also terrifying. He felt bad for anyone who disobeyed her orders. 

Keith was so caught up in his thoughts of what kind of torture she put her prisoners through, that he didn’t notice the Princess’s shift in mood. She’d sucked in a breath and taken quick steps back, her eyes widening in fear. 

He only took notice when she said:

“I’ve been in the pod for ten  years.” 

“Everyone thinks you died,” Keith said gently, “But they never found your body.”

The Princess sucked in another breath.

“Coran!” She exclaimed, frantically running to the other pod.

She placed her hands on the pod, just as he had done, but the ice didn’t get any warmer. She cursed under her breath. That stupid war had prevented her from having a firebending teacher.

“I can melt it for you,” Keith said, “I’m not going to hurt you, or run, I swear.” He added when she glowered at him.

She sighed. 

The ice around his feet turned to water. 

He started to melt the second pod. 

“What are you doing here, anyway?” said the Princess.

“My brother- Shiro -he went on an expedition a couple weeks ago. He was supposed to be back a while ago, so I went looking for him.” He explained, moving his hand lower as the ice melted. “He had a picture of the glacier that this castle is hidden in, with the inscription ‘ _ Some secrets are best kept frozen’ _ . I don’t exactly have anything to lose, so I decided to look for this place. In case it had any secrets.” 

The Princess walked over to his bag, she dumped it over and examined the contents. A picture of Shiro and Keith from a few years ago was the thing she picked up.

“Your brother is Takashi Shirogane?” she asked.

“Technically he’s my legal guardian, but he’s like a brother to me.” 

She picked up the picture of the glacier next. 

“This photo was taken when the Castle of Lions was first built.” Her voice was nostalgic, her eyes teary. “Has it- has it  _ really _ been ten years?” Her voice caught. Keith nodded solemnly. The Princess touched her forehead. “What happened?” 

Keith wasn’t sure if the question was rhetorical, but he summarized what he knew of the attack on the Northern Water Tribe. The Princess’s face got progressively sadder as the story went on, and at the end of the story, she walked to the far wall, wiped her eyes and returned. 

“I can’t believe how rude I’ve been!” She said, “I am Avatar Allura, Princess of the Northern Water Tribe--” she curtsied gracefully, “--Thank you for saving me.”

“It was really no big deal. Besides,” he said, “my intentions were completely selfish.” He shrugged.

“I must repay you in some way,” she continued, completely ignoring the fact that he’d even spoken, “Especially considering my rude behaviour.” She seemed troubled about the fact that she’d attacked the person who saved her from a ten year deep freeze. “I must have lost all my composure in that pod.” Her ponytail swished around as she paced, gesticulating wildly. Her shoes made little clicking sounds on the floor. “I don’t have any right to call myself a princess if I randomly attack people in my house.” 

“That’s ridiculous.” Allura made it known that Keith’s contribution to the conversation wasn’t needed by shooting him a glare that could evaporate the ocean. It lasted a mere half-second before Allura quickly turned her face away.

“See!” she said, “I just glared at you! I only use that glare on people I hate!” Keith had a feeling that focusing on such a trivial matter was a distraction from her situation. “I don’t think I hate you!” 

“I’m glad.” She glared at him again, softer this time. She sighed.

Allura lowered herself to the floor and sat in what Keith assumed wasn’t a very princess-like manner. He didn’t judge though, she  _ had _ been standing for ten years. 

“If it makes you feel any better,” he started carefully, “this Coran dude is almost unfrozen.” 

This helped the Princess’s dwindling mood. Or at least that’s what Keith thought. 

Allura was stuck somewhere between excitement, relief, sadness, and grief. She was ecstatic to see Coran again, relieved to have someone else in her situation, but they were all alone in this now. Her lovely mother and her amazing father were both… gone. 

In her head, she knew this, but her heart decided that it was a load of garbage. 

The King and Queen don’t just  _ die _ . That’s not how it works. 

_ They’re alive, _ her heart sang,  _ They have to be. _

Her brain frowned at the notion.

Kings and Queens live for their people. Kings and Queens live for their children. Kings and Queens don’t just leave everything behind.

_ You’re being unfair, _ said her brain,  _ They were killed, remember? _

That didn’t help.

Kings and Queens don’t get killed.

Kings and Queens get assasinated. 

The King and Queen are dead. And everyone thinks she is, too. 

_ Mother and Father are dead. And they died thinking that I was dead too. _

The whole tribe thinks she’s dead.

“The tribe!” She said out loud. “What’s become of the tribe!” 

Keith was finishing off the ice on the base of the pod. This one was more frozen than the one that carried the Princess.

“It was… different, I guess.” He upped the heat of his hands. “I’ve never been there personally, but Shiro’s stories made it seem more, uh, alive, than it seemed.” Just a little hotter. “The walls were like a million feet tall, and there was a lot of security, so I didn’t even try to go in. They would’ve kicked me out immediately, or worse.” Just a few more minutes. 

“That isn’t how my parents ruled the Tribe.” Allura’s brow was furrowed, her nose scrunched, “It’s always been an open and welcoming place.”

“Well whoever’s in charge now didn’t think that was a good idea.” 

The pod was fully uncovered now, all that was left was to press the button. Keith stood aside, letting Allura do the honours. 

As the blue tinted glass uncovered the man inside, Allura sucked in a deep breath. Keith couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not. 

He decided it was good when she saw the Princess catch the orange haired man as he fell out of the pod, tears in her eyes and a giant smile on her face. 

She held him for a moment before passing this ‘Coran’ over to Keith, who unfroze his insides.

_ That’s not how this works _ , he thought to himself.

_ Whatever _ , his thoughts replied.

Soon enough, the man stirred.

His eyes just barely opened as Keith lowered him fully to the ground.

“Pr’nc’ss ‘Lura.” Was all he got out before his eyes slid shut once again.

“Coran,” whispered the Princess, placing a hand on his forehead, a bittersweet smile on her teartracked face.


End file.
